Quite possibly the biggest challenge facing any restaurant is how to increase the numbers of guests in your restaurant. For years owners have been trying new ideas and concepts to attract customers to their restaurants. Daily specials, sponsoring local sports or musical events and advertising in local newspapers or high schools are all tested methods of drawing guests into your restaurant, but they are dated and have a minimal impact if any.

The true secret to increasing the number of guests in your restaurant is, Do it Right. Whatever you decide as your theme or menu for your restaurant doesnt matter. What does matter is that you focus on what you do well, and nothing else.

Lets start with the menu. Are your portions the right size? How many of the plates being brought back to the kitchen are empty? If the plates arent empty, what items remain? These are questions an owner or manager should be asking the servers regularly to ascertain which portions are too large and which are too small.

Do you have too many items on your menu? In the hopes of attracting more customers, restaurants have begun to diversify their menus by offering exotic foods and delicacies. The end result is an overloaded menu that provides too many choices for the guest. A typical menu should contain no more than 8-10 appetizers, 10-12 main courses and 4-6 desserts. There are two reasons why this formula works. The first reason is that by limiting the number of items the kitchen has to produce, they become faster and more skilled in the preparation of those dishes. When diners go out for dinner they have a rough idea of what it is they want to eat. By providing a simplified, but well-balanced menu means the guests can spend more time enjoying the dining experience and less time selecting the meal.

Now that you have the menu and the kitchen in order we need to look at the service. There is no better way of increasing the number of guests in your restaurant than by providing excellent guest service. Think yourself, how many times you have returned to a restaurant that had great food and lousy service. For most of you the answer will be never. Now think about how many times you have returned to a restaurant that had great service and mediocre food. Most of you will probably say that on at least one occasion you have gone back to a restaurant because the service you received was outstanding.

Service-staff are the front-line workers for your restaurant and therefore the strongest impression of your product. Having a capable service team is a huge challenge for any restaurant, but the best way to reduce theses challenges are training and consistency. Train your team to perform each task in the same manner every time and you will see dramatic results. If every server serves each guest the same way (exclusive of individual personalities) every time, you will see their speed increase, their ability to assist other team members increase and most importantly their accountability will increase.

At the end of the day it comes down to the owner or manager to follow-up on standards and training. If a restaurant has an incredible service package that is never enforced, then there is really no service package at all. As an owner or manager you should visit each table and speak with as many guests as you can to get a true feel of how your service and kitchen teams are performing. Remember, these challenges can be overcome with a little planning, lots of training and consistent follow-up. Its your business, if you dont take an active role in ensuring its success, who will?